Resetting attachment for fluorescent lamp starters



P 30, 1952 L. STUELAND RESETTING ATTACHMENT FOR FLUORESCENT LAMP STARTERS Filed July 30, 1949 INVENTOR. 4AF Sruamva fiboli' Mentioned into 1atciieepesi'tien, cio'sifig' t e Patented Sept. 30; 1952 .1 PAT ahserm This" invention relates to;starters zfcr fi ioree cent lamps andmore 'p articmafiy to starters of. the-manuallyrest type; For many yearsjitwas necessary to replace suchstarte'rs when they had burned out due to faulty" line'conditicns such as low voltage which. resiflted. in excessive heating or the, sftarte "ii'riit' an esiiiecialiy the: series *rje' j sistance therein. Mcr'erecentljy' there has been qiitheinarket a starter'uniti comprising the usual omponents of hem-lamp and series; connected resistance, and in additionfia', bi metai. or other" thermally actuated switch memberjefre'ctilve to h reak the series circuit the event jo'f the abh r: mat. lfri'idfiditidIiS r'ferredjtc and aIso" td dis cofinect at once and, errhaneiitl'y a defective If p roni'the'iine wit'oiitflthe,telltale blinking fi ehouse eficoiifitered. starters ,or this type nave-else beenhrovided with a resetting arrh dheffffiefiibh'df the witch or which th bimetal, member is the} other, '56- arranged that the reset ting arm na 'sfbutwaruly atifayfroni" the 51mm rg'iejiiitrj enfdefiction 'iatt each twa'rd mo ement is acc'emphsned by resetting the reset; arm? to t at it is umanitie 'a'gou wardfya d is'maintai'ned in circuit'cicsin i-j than :0 y by the bimetaigmefiiber end is I r' j'r nief wi'thafr'etaining hooliiofeitaniplei Ahovethe'resetting' arrnxand contactin the,

e isjui 'uall'y provided a resetting button dis-1 v "central aperture of the starter casi'ne 30 pted to move the farm; past the retaining;

direuilt again when slaid'ihiitton' is pushed in warm; The yforegoingfcomponents are well knownf'i'n the art but a; brief understanding 61.; t h eif interrelation. isnece ss'ary for an understanding of; the lactl'on of and the part cular ity of the intfentionnov to bedes'cribed; fit be remembered, therefore that it is the aotfti fationg-ojthe resetting button to. aQainQconiplete 43 the; circuit within the starter that this invention i istva t e l ql en e n d-- x ;It is: well-known alsofin the servicing of fiuojres-l cent lamps, their so ci; ets, starters,etc that co V siderableinqonvenience attaches due to the tact that suchlamps are usually mounted highahove the workspace, close to; the ceiiingas-a rule-and accessible only b'ygrthe nse ci ia 1adder ,and ryeduentlyithe movihg-ofgfurnitnre, eqnipment te to properly .positionflthe ladder. .flhe ame di culty is presented in operating thelresettingfp I ton earlier referred to. Although such button projects-through the disc-dike oap'of, the starter cover and Such cap; is frequently... idishi-shaped to ,fercihtateimanuat QperatiQmofthe button, the Jig- Arm HMENT, F0 R FLUORES- CEN'IYLAMPSTARTERJS Late" Stucland, Alamedayflalift v ritili'eatian new; 1949, Serial No. 107,779.

i e olaims; (0140091727 v f considerable inconvenience:

' manually accessible for the-resetting e frati'on:

resetting suchi'buttons v v positions; Anotherobject'ioh 1ste bef;o1 :t d

ation. Thebutton is so smal1, :that accessible 4 has been accomplished, since the Ianip may'lighfi 20 resetting arm to return to ally reset button or a starter of a; fluorescent 1am that ma be actuated despite the 'hjs'trtioti I Another-object of the invention is which the, starter maybe reset by tij'gjn" of the preferred form of the invention is illustrated'in the drawing accompanying made by the-Said drawing and desoription v forth in the claims.

setting icp'eration nevertheless; attended with i Qnej o't-th errier i y,

di'ificulties arises from thecustomaryiccationnt most fluorescent Iight fixtures of the starter'heneath' the lamp when the latter is -positioned with-in its sockets so that the 1ampi= nnrsthe -re-a moved in order for'fthe resettingfbixttoni to bq This objection is' quite serious and tim consum ing'in practice; since in large installations severat of; the.personne1 "afe ffegue'ritly continuously 'I occupied in, renewing such com-honenteand to- .th'e'ir enenmmsme the uncertainty which attends the y when thel-am'p is in position, there: no way to be certain thattheIatchingoperatio i-t w iie i-tn tion. It is toward the eli'rfii-iiatioriof fsiich' cultiesthat-the present invention is dire Accordingly, it isan object ofzthe-ipies'e 1 venti'on' to'provide' an attachment for-the manu;

Ithe f lcsing fo'f' the' Ci rC release- O h button a th 7/ an attachment of t the character from the floorby using a suitable rod and wit out removing the lamp. i Si me- D I an attachment of the character described which is certain in its action in"re1atching the man 1T resetstarter. z" i The inventionpos'sesses othercobject tu es of advantage; scmepf which; with th e 156T going; willbe set forth in the following-descri I -A further object r the intention fqrming part or the specification; 'irtrs'td tech derstood, however, thatvaria'tionsjin the show g adopted within the scope of theinventicn A set I Reference isnow' madefto the drawing-whiz in vjiiiew re 1 -i's a perspective view? of'fonfe "end 6 standard fluorescent Ia'mp holdefofso e a' sernbly with starter and having in'stall'e with one form of the present -in t ention F igu re '2 ,is a side elevation :of- "al 'fll l re lamp mounting showinganoth ,emhh'dix'n member doubled back on itself at 39 to provide a handle portion 33a outwardly offset and right angularly disposed with respect to a body portion which spans the starter casing 2 approximately diametrically and is formed centrally thereof in the shape of a closed loop for engaging the resetting button 22 to move the same to closed position. The remote end 48' of the actuating member 32a is reversely bent and is terminally pointed to seat firmly upon the milled surface 29 of the casing 2, while the near end of the member 32a is closely looped about the body of the member at 4|, bent upwardly and inwardly to engage itspointed terminus with the face of the casing 2 opposite the end 40. It will be seen, therefore, that the form of the invention shown in Figure l embodies an attachment, that may .be readily attached to'and removed from a fluorescent lamp starter of the type described. The

mounting of the attachment upon the casing also bears some resemblance to that shown in Figure-5 and described more particularly hereinafter.

The form of the invention shown in Figure 2 resembles that of Figure 1 as to its mounting upon the starter casing but is further characterized by the provision of an elongated and closed loop Mo on the actuating member which is easier to engage by a suitable hook attached to the manipulating rod referred to in the detailed description of Figure 3 when the starter is located on the end wall of the fluorescent fixture or on a side wall of. the fixture above the lamp as is indicated by the dotted outline of Figure 3. Herein, the

- remote end 40b of the actuating member is pointed to seat upon the milling 29 of thecasing 2, while the other end is bent about the body of the member at 4lb to provide the 100p 4!. The contact loop is provided as before and is slightly ofiset to engage the resetting button to relatch the starter unit.

In Figure 5 is shown a modifled form of my improved attachment in which the starter casing is recessed or perforated approximately diametrically thereof to provide a pivotal mounting for the actuating member. The perforations 42, 43 are made preferably near the upper rim of the dish-shaped cap I where the casing has been stifien ed in the forming process and wherein the ends 44, 45 of the actuating member are seated. A slightly offset loop 46 is provided as before to engage the resetting button 23 upon movement of the handle portion' 39a, as before. From the foregoing it will be observed that there has been provided an attachment for the starters of fluorescent lamps which is easily manipulated despite the inaccessibility of such starters on the lamp brackets, is easy to install and may be rapidly and inexpensively manufactured.

It will also be noted that due to the rather sharp radius of curvature of the button engaging portion, the actuating member will be normally maintained in its operative position, and will readily return to such position after movement of the handle portion to engage the resetting button. Thus, there is no possibility of the resetting button being maintained in its depressed or resetting position.

Iclaim: I

1. An' attachment for fluorescent lamp starters of the plunger operated, manually reset type comprising a substantially flat bridge member bent into the shape of a U having a central portion extending laterally over said plunger and .im

wardly facing, curved terminal portions for gripping the starter casing and longitudinally spaced bearing surfaces in its intermediate portions, and a rod-like plunger actuating member extending laterally of said starter subjacent said central portion of the bridge member and pivotally mounted in the bearing surfaces of said bridge member, said actuating member having a central deformed portion movable to reset said plunger in one position of rotation of said actuating memher.

2. An attachment for fluorescent lamp starters having an axially extending plunger of the manually reset type comprising a generally flat bridge member overlying said plunger, means for securing said bridge member to said starter, and a plunger actuating member having a handle portion extending in parallelism with the axis of said starter and an integral, transverse portion in parallelism with said bridge member and pivotally mounted on said bridge member in spaced relation from said plunger and movable into contact therewith upon rotation of said handleportion.

3. An attachment as defined in claim 2 wherein said transverse portion is laterally offset from said bridge member for the major portion of its length.

4. An attachment for fluorescent lamp starters of the plunger-operated, manually reset type comprising a single, elongated member bent intermediate its ends to provide a reinforced handle portion, an inwardly bent, remotely disposed, starter-engaging terminal portion, a similar terminal portion spaced from said handle portion and an intermediate portion movable into contact with said plunger.

5. In a fluorescent lamp fixture having a socket for a lamp starter mounted therein, and a pair of sockets so mounted as to provide substantial obstruction of the starter by the lamp when rested therein, an attachment disposable over said starter and operable from a position laterally oil'- set from the position of said lamp, said attach ment comprising an elongated rod-like member pivotally mounted relative to said starter, an integral handle portion extending from said rodlike member, and a central laterally offset portion selectively movable into and out of engagement with said starter upon rotation of said handle portion.

6. An attachment for fluorescent lamp starters of the plunger-operated, manually reset type comprising a single, elongated member bent intermediate its ends to provide a closed loop, handle portion, an inwardly bent, remotely disposed,

starter-engaging terminal portion, a similar terminal portion spaced from said handle portion and an intermediate portion movable into contact with said plunger.

LAFE STUELAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the me of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

